


The X-Factor

by Parteehard



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-19 23:23:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parteehard/pseuds/Parteehard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every summer the kids that are best at what they do gather at a camp to perfect their craft and to be molded into stars. When Harry Styles gets kicked out for sleeping around and Louis Tomlinson is in need of some extra cash the two boys sign up to be counselors, meeting face to face for the second time. If one considers a hook-up at a concert to be a first meeting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is a story that zouissexcam and I are collaborating on on tumblr. She wrote this. Give her tumblr a look! x

“Harold Edward Styles! What do you think you were doing?”

Harry rolled his eyes at the question. The obvious answer of letting the new employee give him a blowjob in the storage closet was a waste of his breath. His mother had seen it herself, he didn’t understand why she felt the need to ask the question in the first place.

Evidently it was simply to set herself up for her next statement which she launched into without taking a breath, “Having sex with the new employee, during store hours, in an unlocked room! Imagine the scandal if that got out, the bakery would go out of business.”

“We weren’t having sex, mum,” Harry sighed while mentally adding, not yet anyways, “She was just, you know, sucking me off.”

Anne Cox’s face, which was already a startling shade of red from rage, flushed redder from embarrassment at how easily the words left her son’s mouth, “Please tell me you didn’t force yourself on her.”

Harry almost laughed at the thought. He’d never had to force himself on anyone and never planned on it, not when everywhere he went people were mentally undressing him. He settled for a half smirk, “Force Cher? Please mum, she was practically begging for it for a week. WHY do you think she was so excited when she got the job?” 

“Do you go around sleeping with all of our workers?” The tone used indicated a half joke in Anne’s question.

“No, but it’s not because they don’t ask for it, believe me. I like to expand my horizons, look around a bit more.”

Anne’s eyes widened in shock, “Harry, how many women have you slept with?”

Harry shrugged, he didn’t keep count. He didn’t see the point when they were all throwing themselves at his feet, “Relax, mum. I’m eighteen, it’s legal, I can do what I want. I am an adult.” 

Anne’s lips were pressed in a thin line as she considered her youngest child. She had nodded with understanding when he had decided to take a year off of school. She hadn’t pressed him to get a job, simply giving him a weekly allowance. The gentle approach that worked so well with Gemma was getting her nowhere, perhaps it was time to switch tactics.

“Alright then, Harry,” She finally said, “You are an adult so I suppose you should live like one. You have two nights to pack your stuff and move out.”

Harry finally gave his mother all of his attention, “You’re kicking me out?”

“For the summer. Perhaps having more responsibility will sort you out. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go and have a little chat with Cher.”

…

Harry threw his belongings in a box, scowling heavily over the fact that he was actually having to do this. What type of mother just kicks out their child? He barely had 100 pounds in the bank, no job and nowhere to go. Was she expecting him to sleep on the fucking streets?

“Attention artists of the UK, are you looking for a good paying summer job?”

Harry f roze, his eyes trained on his radio, was he imagining things in his desperation or was he really just that lucky?

“The X-Factor is an arts based camp where the most talented kids in the UK are trained to become stars and there are currently two openings for counselors. Do you have the talent to train the stars of tomorrow? Go to the X-Factor.uk and send in an audition tape by noon tomorrow to apply.”

Harry dropped the clothes in his hands and rushed to the computer, going to the website the radio advert had specified. He scrolled through the site, one of the open slots was for a singing instructor. Harry could do that, it took nearly no effort to sing, the job paid well and the camp looked more like a retreat. Harry clicked the apply button and grinned at his web camera.

“Hello, my name’s Harry Styles, I’m from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire and I’m applying for the singing position,” He cleared his throat and launched into an old favorite, ‘Isn’t She Lovely,’ by Stevie Wonder.

…

Louis followed his little sisters as they barged through the door to their house, smiling softly to himself as he listened to Daisy and Phoebe’s chatter. He glanced around the living room, looking for his mother and when he didn’t see her he quietly excused himself from the girls’ conversation and tried the kitchen.

Jay Tomlinson sat at the kitchen table, a calculator and a stack of bills beside her as she muttered numbers to herself, frowning at the paper she was holding.

Louis sighed and glanced around, his eyes settling on a warm teapot. He poured his mother a cup of tea, placing it in front of her as he gently pulled the bill out of her hand. “You know doing all of these at the same time gives you a migraine, mum, “ Louis said, running his eye down the electricity bill, making a mental note to start checking to see if his sisters turned off anything they weren’t using.

Jay gave him a small smile, sipping her tea, “I know Lou. I’ve just been putting them off and now I don’t have any other choice.”

“Can we pay them all?” Louis asked, “If we don’t I’ll just -.”

“Absolutely not,” Jay cut him off, “You’re not using the money you saved for school. We’ll be fine, just cut down on the sweets.” 

Louis raised his eyebrow as he eyed the rest of the bills. They were going to have to cut down on more than sweets. “I’m going to get a job, to help,” He decided.

“We’ve already discussed this, Louis. I want you to focus on school.”

“I will, when school starts. Right now its holiday so there’s nothing to worry about. I’m going to get a job, mom, just accept it.”

Jay smiled, “Okay, Lou. You win.”

Louis grinned and stood, “Good, I’m going job hunting now.”

“Good luck, boo bear!”

Louis rolled his eyes, “Don’t call me that.”

…

Louis sat in the corner of his favorite coffee shop, mentally cursing his life and his lack of a laptop as he waded through a stack of newspapers and magazines, wishing the help wanted ads were larger and more helpful. How was anyone supposed to get a job when the adverts were so impossible to read?

He sighed and took a sip of his drink as he browsed a page and he nearly spit up the liquid as he saw an ad that looked specifically tailored to him. It was for some summer camp called the X-Factor. They had two open positions for counselors, one to teach a drama class.

Louis was going to school to be a drama teacher; it was as if the ad had been placed in the paper specifically for him. He ripped it from the magazine and quickly filled out the paper with his acting experience and his schooling. Folding it so it fit easily in his pocket as he drained the last of his coffee.

Louis walked to a library and googled the address of the camp’s office, for some strange reason it was stationed in Doncaster. Louis grinned; he must be destined for the job if everything was working for him like this.

He caught a bus to the office, walking inside to the woman at the front desk, she raised an eyebrow, and “Can I help you?”

Louis pulled out the application, “I’m Louis Tomlinson and I’m applying for the job at the camp.”

The woman eyed the application, “I’ll see if the boss is in.” She turned to her phone and had a brief conversation before nodding at Louis, “Go up to level four, straight down to the large double doors, she’ll see you right now.”

Louis followed the woman’s instructions, nervously tugging on the bottom of his shirt. He hadn’t been prepared for an interview or whatever he was doing. He knocked on the large double doors and a voice said, “Come in.”

Louis walked inside and saw a woman with long brown hair; she gave him a small smile, “Louis Tomlinson? My assistant said your application looked impressive, my name is Caroline Flack, and I’m camp coordinator.”

Louis moved forward and shook her hand, “Nice to meet you Caroline.”

She motioned him into a chair, taking the paper that held out to her, running her eye down the application as a small smile grew on her lips, “This is very good. The best one I’ve seen today. Well, I can’t make any promises but you’re currently the frontrunner for this position. I’ll call tomorrow with the final verdict.”

“When does camp start?”

“Monday,” Caroline said easily, “Except the counselors leave for camp on Friday to get acquainted with the area.”

 

“Friday? That’s the day after tomorrow.” Louis breathed, his eyes wide.

Caroline grinned, “So you’ll understand why I’m a little frantic to fill this position. Thank goodness we got a good audition for the other slot as well. Thank you, Louis. We’ll be in touch one way or the other.”

Louis nodded and left, gently shutting the door behind him.

…

Harry was lying on his bed, a half empty box in the middle of his floor as he stared at his phone. He had been waiting all morning to get a call back from that summer camp and he couldn’t remember ever being more nervous to hear about a job in his life. Although considering he had never applied for a job before it was to be expected.

He literally had no backup plan. If they didn’t want he still had to move out and he didn’t know what to do? He idly considered the idea that he could shack up with one of his fuck buddies, they probably wouldn’t object.

Harry began mentally scrolling through the names of girls he thought would be okay to stay with when his phone started vibrating with a phone call from an unknown number; he picked it up and answered, “Hello?”

“Is this Harry Styles?” A female voice sounded on the other end.

“Yes.”

“This is Caroline Flack, camp coordinator for the X-Factor. I’m calling to offer you the job you applied for, if you would still like it.”

“Are you kidding? I’d love it,” Harry said, sitting straight up in his bed.

He could hear the smile in her voice, “Lovely, well if you could make it to our office in Doncaster tomorrow around noon we’ll have paperwork for you and we leave for camp at five that evening.”

“Okay, thank you so much.” Harry hung up and sprung out of his bed, a grin spreading across his face as he rushed around his room to start packing a suitcase full of everything he would need for the summer, or maybe several suitcases.

…

Louis hugged his mother, smiling slightly as he felt a tear drop from her cheek. No matter where he was going she always got emotional when he left home for a prolonged amount of time.

“Mum, I’m just going to a camp for a few months, no need to get emotional. I’ll be able to call you every day if it’ll make you feel better.”

 

“I’m sorry boo bear,” She sniffled, “It’s just always nice to have you back around the house, you’re like my best friend.”

Louis gave her another hug before hugging each of his sisters in turn, “Now remember,” He told them, “When I send money home make sure mum uses it and doesn’t put it in my college account, okay. I’m going for you guys.”

The four girls nodded and Louis grabbed his suitcase to get to the bus stop before he missed his bus, “I’ll see you in August.”

He walked away from the house, giving them all a wave before moving down the sidewalk.

…

When Louis arrived at the office building he was pleasantly surprised at how many of the other counselors were around his age, or younger. There was a loud Irish lad who seemed too attached to his guitar, talking to a ginger-haired man who was also carrying a guitar. Standing by the door to the bus was a brown-haired boy with a thick Wolverhampton accent talking to a raven-haired boy whose voice sounded like he was from Bradford.

The door to the office building opened and Louis glanced over, passing Caroline a brief smile before his eyes settled on the lad who was obviously chatting her up. His mouth dried as he recognized the curls, there was no way this was happening to him.

Green eyes met blue and the lad spared Louis a quick grin before turning back to his conversation. Louis fought the blush that was creeping on his cheeks and he turned in a hurry, climbing onto the bus and leaning against a window, trying to force his breath to return to normal.

It was Harry. Louis had thought he would never see him again. Their first, and only meeting, was so brief, just strangers who happened to be at the same concert for The Script. They hadn’t sat near each other, the only reason Louis recognized him was because they had both happened to go to the same bathroom at the same time in the middle of the concert. Both had been drunk, Harry significantly more so than Louis.

It had only been a quick fuck in a deserted bathroom. Louis clinging onto those curls as the other boy thrust into him. As the came down from their highs the green eyed boy had pressed a quick kiss to his lips, “My name’s Harry by the way, not that it’ll matter anymore.”

He had left Louis breathless, his back pressed against the wall. Louis hadn’t really thought about it since. It wasn’t a big deal; Harry meant literally nothing to him.

But if he meant literally nothing why was Louis hiding on a bus from a stranger that obviously didn’t remember his existence?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I wrote this chapter! Enjoy. Feedback is always great! x

The ride to the camp site for Louis, was spent worrying and tense. Millions of things were running through his head.

“Will he even recognize me? Will he care? What if he regrets it?” Needless to say, Louis was a hot mess when they arrived, and not the attractive kind. He snapped out of his racing thoughts long enough to catch the last of the camp coordinators speech. 

“-the next few days will be spent getting to know your fellow counselors and familiarizing yourself with the area. Also make sure to read over your handbook and after you get off the bus, please make your way to the Common Lounge.” Louis nodded his head at Caroline, realizing to late he looked like an idiot, but he tried to ignore the fact that the tips of his ears were turning pink.

As he stood to gather his bag and his rather large stack of information papers and forms she spoke again, “Oh, and counselors, Welcome to The X-Factor.” Caroline said before sashaying away, and adding way to much emphasize on her hips as she walked away.

‘Gag’ Louis thought as he watched her, and it seemed as if he wasn’t the only one who agreed because he heard a sound of disapproval coming from the brown-haired boy behind him.

Flashing the boy and small smile, Louis proceeded to exit of the bus and narrowly avoided knocking into a ginger haired man. 

“Woah, sorry mate.” Louis stuttered out as he grabbed the arms of the man in front of him. “Ed.” The man said with a smile. Confused, Louis tilted his head to the side slightly,”Huh?” The man laughed. 

“My name is Ed, not mate. Though I wouldn’t mind being your friend.” still smiling Louis relaxed, smiling again. “Right, Hi Ed. I’m Louis Tomlinson,” reaching out his hand to offer a handshake. 

Ed grasped Louis’ hand in his own and shook it firmly. “Hi Louis. I’m Ed Sheeran, and Welcome to The X-Factor.”

*

Louis trailed behind everyone else. He didn’t want to risk running into anyone else with his luggage or his clumsy feet. Neither was a good option. ‘At least I made a friend’ he told himself trying to justify that talking to himself didn’t make him crazy. Nodding his head to himself in answer he opened the door to the Lounge and was instantly immersed in air conditioning.

*

The whole meeting was chaos. It was more rules and discussion of schedules an expectations. The rules list included, ‘Always be respectful to your peers and yourself as well.’ And all the other jazz like, ’No swearing’ “Yup, that’ll definetly be followed.” a deep voice announced loudly, drawing all attention to the man, and earning him several glares. “An lastly, ‘No sex with other counselors/co-workers.’ It will not be tolerated.” Caroline announced without any real volition. 

‘Jeez, it looks like it physically pains her to say that.’ Louis said to himself or at least he thought he did, because a second after he ‘thought’ it a blonde haired girl, whom was sitting beside him, burst out laughing and turned towards him with her hand raised. “Good one mate ” she said through her tears as Louis returned her high five.

*

Louis spent the rest of the meeting with a smile on his face. He had made to potential friends.

The girl that had high five’d him, her name was Perrie and she was nice from what he could tell and she also introduced him to the only two other female counselors. Eleanor, who looked at him as if she wanted to wrap herself around his body and never let go, and Danielle, who was lovely and was the one he favored the most between the two. 

When they were dismissed to mingle with the other counselors and to find their sleeping mates, Louis broke off from the group to go to the bathroom. 

The Lounge building was the only one with working toilets; it also held the teaching rooms where the lessons would be taught. 

After Louis had finished doing his business and washed his hands he opened the door to bump into the brown-haired boy who had laughed with him on the bus.

“Uh, hey.” Louis said nervously rubbing the back of his neck. The boy smiled,” Hey, I’m Liam Payne. And you are?” “Uh, yeah, Hi. I’m Louis. Louis Tomlinson,” Louis said and for the second time today offering his hand for a shake. 

Liam grasped Louis’ within his own and shook firmly but not obnoxiously so. “Well hello Louis, and Welcome to The X-Factor.”

*

After meeting Liam, Louis couldn’t keep himself from yawning anymore. He was tired

Caroline had all given them a cabin number privately before the meeting started and so all he had to do was make his way to his cabin, number 12, to sleep. ‘I wonder who my roommate will be.’ Louis thought curiously ‘I wouldn’t mind Liam or Ed being my roommate, they were both really nice lads’ Louis was suddenly cut out of his thoughts when he tripped over his own feet. 

‘Seriously? How many fucking times am I gonna fall or bump into someone today.’ Louis thought angrily as he fell on the ground face first.

When Louis’ face connected to the ground, he could hear a high-pitched snickering coming from the left of him, from over top his groans of pain. Louis just stayed on the ground, doing nothing, trying to bury his embarrassment into the deep, rich soil of the earth. 

As footsteps approached his rapidly bruising body, Louis lifted his head up to see a blonde-haired boy. 

“Are you okay mate?” the boy said through his snickers, as he reached a hand out to help him up. 

Louis nodded his head weakly, still impossibly embarrassed, as he allowed Niall to pull him upright. 

“Good, or else I would totally feel bad that I was laughing.” the boy said will a smile. “Yeah, I’m alright, just impossibly embarrassed. I’m Louis Tomlinson by the way.” Louis said as he offered his scraped-up hand to Niall to shake. The blonde haired boy nodded, “Hi, I’m Niall Horan and-“ 

Then a raven haired boy came out of no-where and chose this moment to interrupt. “Niall I need your help,” the boy said in a thick Bradford accent he had recognized from earlier.

Before Niall could open his mouth to answer, the boy cut in again, “Oh, hey. I’m Zayn Malik and I’m gonna borrow Niall. He’s my roommate and I really need his help. Catch ya tomorrow okay- Wait sorry what’s your name?” 

Shocked by the forwardness of the boy, Louis managed to choke out, ‘Louis Tomlinson.’

Zayn nodded as if he was agreeing that Louis’ name fitted him. “Okay, catch ya tomorrow Louis, oh and Welcome to The X-Factor.” 

Zayn said with a dazzling heart stopping smile, before grabbing the pale skinned boy by the hand, who was blushing to the tips of his ears, and dragging him off, leaving Louis confused but overall amused. Louis shrugged, ‘the people here are kinda weird.’ He thought fondly before continuing on his trek to cabin 12.

* 

Cabin 12 was the farthest away from the Common Lounge, and was set back farther away from the rest of the other counselors’ cabin.

It was secluded in a way that made it seem peaceful yet creepy at the same time. ‘I hope there aren’t any serial killers out in these woods.’ Louis thought to himself jokingly, but only ending up scaring himself, so he quickly tried to bury the thought as he ascended the rickety stairs to his shared cabin. 

The light wasn’t on yet, so Louis figured he had made it before his roommate. 

Flicking the light on, Louis took in the sight of the old cabin. It had a kitchen and two closets, two beds, two lamps, and two overly large desks, all separate neatly into the two separate sides. 

Yawning increasingly more, Louis went to work preparing his bed, he decided to put the rest of his stuff away in the morning either before or after breakfast.

Finally finishing making his bed and still no sign of his cabin mate, Louis quickly stripped down to his boxer and pulled on a tank top and loose shorts, but only succeeding in pulling his shorts on halfway before the cabin door banged open. 

Louis frantically pulled his bottoms on before looking over at his roommate. 

It was a curly-haired boy with beautiful green eyes, pink full lips that he knew how to use, and an alarmingly beautiful smile.

The boy approached Louis with sure steps, and stopping inches away from Louis’, now trembling, body.

“Hey, I’m Harry Styles. Welcome to The X-Factor.” And that’s all Louis remembers before he passes out.


End file.
